Essential Skills

Speaking, Listening, Presenting

Objective: The goal of a good class discussion is to help students gain a deeper understanding of the material. Talking about the material can help to solidify your understanding of the reading, help you to store information in your long-term memory, and gain new insights as your peers and teacher share their perspectives. There are, however, many skills you can develop through speaking and listening that are vital in helping you become an analytical thinker.

Orient Yourself:

1. What is the purpose of this discussion? (e.g. to share opinions? to critique? to review?)

2. What is my role in class discussion?

3. How can I tell which parts of this discussion are important for me?

Think Analytically

1. What are the most important ideas from the discussion?

2. How are participants supporting their ideas with evidence?

3. How can I connect the content of this discussion to other concepts?

Habits of Success

A good discussion participant:

1. Comes prepared to discuss the material (make certain you have done the reading and have taken some notes on points you believe are important to discuss).

2. Listens attentively to other students’ responses and understandings

3. Verbally engages other students’ ideas by asking questions that relate to other students’ observations

4. Uses text or data to support claims, interpretations, and opinions of the topic

5. Uses discussion as an opportunity to practice constructing arguments

6. Appropriately monitors his or her own contributions to discussion

7. Works to ensure each perspective is respected while not verbally attacking those whose ideas/opinions differ from yours

Objective: To effectively incorporate verbal and non-verbal skills, while possibly using a visual aid, to share information with or to convey an idea to an audience. Remember: How you say something is as important as what you say.

Orient Yourself:

1. Who is my audience?

2. What is the time requirement for my speech?

3. What visual aids do I need to use?

Think Analytically

1. How relevant is my information to my audience and to my speaking topic?

2. What information do I have to support each of my ideas?

3. How does my visual aid reinforce my ideas?

Habits for success

1. Speaking portion of presentation

To help you remember the important verbal and non-verbal skills of a proper presentation, use the VOICES acronym:

V: volume--speaking loud enough, not allowing your voice to fade at the end of a sentence, avoid being monotone (use voice fluctuations)

O: organization--clear intro/body/conclusion, using transitional words between each section and between each point within the speech